Category: Gender Matrix

MIDLANDS Province’s Chief Muhumbane said traditional leaders and chiefs must be granted powers to punish child marriages offenders if the prevailing surge in child marriages cases is to be nipped in the bud. By Michael Gwarisa Speaking during a Chief’s Indaba in Gweru, Chief Muhumbane said there was conflict between customary law and criminal law and as a result, chiefs were battling to combat Child marriages. “Your excellency, we ask that there be clarity on issues of customary law and criminal law. Many a timers, you find that offenses are…

LEGISLATORS have called for command sanitary pads production in a bid to avert the prevailing crisis which has been exacerbated by the recent prices increases of sanitary products due to foreign currency shortages. By Michael Gwarisa Contributing to a motion raised by Honorable Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga in the National Assembly, Pelandaba-Mpopoma legislator Joseph Tshuma said sanitary pads availability should match that of condoms and priority must be given to the girl child to menstruate with dignity. “As much as other people have said that if you visit the toilet you…

In a region characterized by poverty, child marriages, school dropouts and child abuse, adolescent girls are taking action to stay healthy and protect themselves from HIV. By Family AIDS Caring Trust Orphans and Vulnerable Children Team In eastern Zimbabwe, near the border with Mozambique, a school and the surrounding community are dramatically changing attitudes and social norms through the DREAMS initiative, which is funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through USAID. There, DREAMS is reaching thousands of parents, caregivers and students and making their dreams come…

HAD it not been for the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eunice, (not her real name) could have been completing her university studies this year. By HealthTimes Correspondent Fate has somehow found her stuck deep in Tongogara refugee camp in Chipinge where she has not been able to continue with her studies and bright future aspirations are fading by the day. The war has left untold spiritual and physical wounds which can physically be felt as she narrates her ordeal. The difficulties she experienced on her journey…

Low levels of awareness about medical impact of sexual violence is causing severe health consequences, the international medical humanitarian organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres/ Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said today. HealthTimes Reporter Of the 7,400 survivors of sexual violence who received free, confidential medical treatment and psycho-social support from MSF at the Edith Opperman clinic in Mbare, Harare since 2011, only 43 percent sought care within 72 hours for preventive and proactive measures. All of those who sought preventive treatment within the recommended 72 hours were prevented from contracting HIV, STIs…

By Daniel Phiri GOVERNMENTS of Sweden and Ireland have signed an agreement of cooperation with the United Nations committing US$4.7 million to support a joint program on Zero Tolerance to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) 365 in Zimbabwe. The commitment comes at a time when the Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey (ZDHS) 2015 has confirmed that violence against women and girls remains a huge problem with at least 1in every 3 women aged 15-49 have experienced physical violence since the age of 15. ZDHS also revealed that 27 percent in the same age…

ONSDALE Enterprises, one of the country’s major sanitary wear manufacturers is on the verge of shutting down ― and sending 140 workers home ― due to the shortage of foreign currency to import raw materials, a company executive has said. Company closures continue to drive Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate, estimated by independent economists to be about 90 percent, higher. A Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) manufacturing sector survey published last week, in partnership with The Financial Gazette, showed that about 30 percent of firms in the sector were on the brink of collapse…

By Daniel Phiri WOMEN’S Affairs, Gender and Community Development Ministry says it is has contracted two companies in the country to manufacture sanitary pads that will be distributed for free or sold at low cost. Sanitary pads are a very critical component for women and girls reproductive health requirements but owing to their exorbitant cost, most are having to look for alternatives some of which could have after effects in the long run. Rural women and girls are said to be the most affected to the extent that some of…

HealthTimes Correspondent Wonders Shall Never Cease!!! IN a dramatic turn of events, the young Epworth girl who was reported in the media recently for being Zimbabwe’s youngest sex worker at the at the age of 9 is in actual fact older than that, She is 17!!! These revelations were made by Harare provincial Social Work officer Mrs Ngani during a Sexual Reproductive Health workshop for young people in the capital yesterday where she indicated that the girl in question went through a rigorous scientific examinations which revealed that the girl…

By Daniel Phiri AS the old adage goes, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” For one Rumbidzai Manzonzo of Sheen Cosmetics and Services based in Mutare, the Zimbabwe: Works project (Z:W) a USAID, DFID and SIDA funded project came at the right time and made her realize her dreams of owning a cosmetics business. The project is a five-year US$12.5million initiative funded by the USAID in partnership DFID and SIDA to strengthen NGOs and private…